Where do you go?
by BlueWinged
Summary: After realizing she's not who she thought she was, and that her boyfriend Nick might be leaving town, Jade finds herself broken and lonely. No one understands except for her new friend and addiction: The Pacific ocean at night...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Waves, ocean, salt water and dark clouds. This was how she liked the Bay.  
No one outside their houses, everyone sleeping peacefully in their beds, resting their minds from worrying about smalltown drama all day.

Down at the beach she could clear her mind, think, and don't have to worry about how she looked or if she started crying.  
The ocean didn't care how she looked, and the tears would be washed away by the waves as soon as they hit the ground, blending with the salt water and making her a part of the big, lonely ocean.  
No one here to tell her how she should feel, and no one here to take the things she loved more than anything away from her.

The great thing about the ocean and the beach at night was that the salt water would never think of offering Nick a job in the City or removing her identity with a piece of paper telling her she wasn't who she thought she was.  
In a world where everything could take anything away from her anytime it was comforting to know that if the ocean chose to take anything away from her, she would be able jump right into its cold, dark blue arms, drown herself in its refreshing water and follow the thing she had lost into eternety.

She had tried talking to Nick about how she felt, but it didn't work. Nick tried (and Jade felt pretty sure he did it because her family had told him to) to convince her everything would be the same.  
"Where do you go when you're lonely?" Dani had asked her, and Jade was pretty sure she hadn't been thinking about "When the stars go blue" at all, she just said it.  
"You go home of course!"  
She hadn't even waited five seconds for Jade to answer. Not that it would have helped, Jade hadn't been ready to answer that question.  
Because when Dani said "Home, of course," she couldn't help thinking, "What if home is the reason why you feel so lonely?"

It was dark, and it wasn't exactly warm. She didn't care, right now she just wanted to stand there, feel the water wash over her feet, and breathe in the cool and cleansing air, brought to her by the thousands of lonely winds from the Pacific ocean.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Have you ever tried to Google "lonely"?  
It gives you 51 400 000 hits in 0,13 seconds. It makes you wonder; if you could Google all the lonely people in the world, how many hits would you get in 0,13 seconds?  
And why are all these people putting "lonely" on their websites? Is it because they are all lonely, or because the word is overused?_

Jade closed her diary, she should be sleeping, but she couldn't. Last night she had stayed down at the beach until three o'clock in the morning, and she had been so tired in the morning her so-called family had been suspicious. They couldn't find out about her trips down to the water at night, somehow Jade felt that it had to be a secret between her and the ocean.  
When Rhys had frowned and asked if sh had slept at all Jade had decided not to og down to the beach tonight. It was too risky, she didn't want anyone to know about it.

There was something so wonderfully addictive about the beach at night, and every time she closed her eyes and tried to sleep now she heard the waves in her head.  
After moving around in her bed for half an hour she finally fell asleep.

Jade had only been sleeping for a fifteen minutes when she woke up, panicing and not able to breathe.  
She needed air so desperately, it hurt so bad!  
Trying to get more oxygen she placed the pillow under her neck so her head was lower than her chest, and her neck was fully stretched, but it didn't work.  
She got out of bed and ran over to the window, gasping for fresh air.  
Tears ran down her face because she was exhausted from panicing and the feeling of not being able to breathe.  
She could finally breathe again, but she had to be silent, trying to catch her breath. It wasn't easy, but it was necessary. She had to be silent, because she knew that if she got back in bed she wouldn't be able to breathe again. She had to get down to the beach.

It was raining outside, but it didn't matter to her. As long as she got her dark, silent and cold nighthours down by the water there could be a thunderstorm, and she wouldn't care.

She could breathe here, and she could be all alone. Lately she felt more lonely among people than she did being alone on a dark and cold beach in the middle of the night.  
It was a depressing thought, it needed to be washed away!  
So she started running, out in the water, away from her thoughts. She didn't stop until the water was covering her shoulders, then she turned around and started walking back to the beach.

Since she hadn't taken her clothes off when she ran into the water it was freezing to stand at the beach. But she didn't care, she just needed to stare at the endless ocean.  
Tonight she wasn't going back at all.

Somewhere out there there was a light. It was probably from a boat, far out there.  
"Please don't let that light disappear," she whispered to the ocean. She had a feeling that light needed to be there for everything to be all right.

She didn't feel stupid when she talked to the ocean anymore.  
She used to feel stupid, especially the first time. But now it felt natural, the ocean kept her secrets. It was even better than writing in her diary, because no one could ever read her secrets from the dark water.  
It was just like when she cried. Her tears fell into the water, and the ocean kept it, but no one would ever be able to track them down and find them in all the water.

The light was still there, and she kept watching it.  
No, tonight she was definitely not going back at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The light was there all night, and didn't disappear before it was drowned by the bright sunlight of the dawn.

She kept her promise to the water and the light; she didn't go home, didn't sleep and didn't sit down. She just stood there in the dark, feeling the water washing over her feet and legs.

When she finally decided to go home in the morning her legs felt numb from standing in the cold water, and she had to sit down and let the sunlight warm them up before she could walk.

"Where have you been, we have been so worried!" Rhys said when she entered the kitchen. Uh-oh, he knew she hadn't been in her bed. She could lie and tell him she went out early, but what if he knew she had been gone all night?

All the Hunters were gathering around Rhys, and they were all waiting for an answer.

"I," Jade began, deciding to go out on a limb, "I just went for an early swim."

"Your hair isn't wet," Robbie pointed out. Damn that smart boy!

"After swimming I sat at the beach and watched the sunrise," she said. She even surprised herself by sounding so cold and nonchalant.

Usually she wouldn't use a tone like that at all, but answer in a polite and nice way.

"Oh, _sorry_ then," Robbie said.

Rhys looked at her, and for a second Jade thought he didn't believe her.

"It's true!" she almost shouted, again surprising herself with this different way of talking to her family.

"I believe you, sweetheart," Rhys said quickly. Jade could see from the look on his face that he was in the supportive mood. He wanted to sit down, maybe have a nice father-daughter conversation over a cup of coffee. Jade didn't want that, so she escaped from the kitchen and up the stairs to her room.

She was still high on the fresh air from the beach, and falling asleep wasn't a problem at all.

They had discussed it so many times, and they all agreed. Jade could live wherever she wanted. If she wanted to stay in Summer Bay Rhys and Beth would be more than happy to have her there, and if she wanted to move to the City and live with Shelley that was fine too.

"But you probably want to know whether Nick is moving to the City or not before you make up your mind," Rhys said, as he always did when they had this conversation.

Jade didn't really join in when the subject was brought up. It seemed like they cared more about it than she did. They seemed to think this was a problem that needed to be solved.

But what if she could just stop the time somehow? No, not stop the time, just keep on living and don't think about this stuff. Even though it was a part of her now, it could be possible to live on like they used to?

All this stuff, was there really any need to find a solution to everything when it hadn't been a problem before?

When she didn't join the conversation they became worried. They started looking at her, asking questions, demanding answers.

Jade didn't have answers, and she didn't like the questions nor the looks they gave her. So she joined in, mumbeled some answers, muttered "yes", and "sure" every once in a while, and told Rhys she would decide what to do when Nick had made up his mind.

To get rid of the lonely and dark feeling these conversations, and just being in the house in general gave her, she escaped down to the beach as soon as she could get out.

"They gave me a better offer," Nick said. Jade turned around. She had no idea how long she had been at the beach. It could be five minutes, an hour or a week. Time disappeared when the seagulls screamed and the waves sang about secrets and loneliness.

"So are you moving to the city then?" she replied, trying to get rid of the hollow and distant voice her silent conersations with the ocean gave her.

"Yes, I think so," he said and sat down next to her in the sand.

"Are you going with me?"

Jade started out from the coast and in to eternity again.

"I don't know," she said.

"So are you moving in with mum now that Nick is going to the City?" Dani asked, making a cup of tea for Jade.

Jade had been wandering around with no destination after the conversation with Nick, and ended up at the Palace.

"If I move to the City," she said, for the first time speaking her mind about the subject to anyone but the waves, "The who am I?"

Dani sat down, "What do you mean?" she said, trying to get eye contact with her sister.

"It's just," Jade began, it felt so scary to talk about this, exposing herself for the danger opening up to people could be, "I'm still me if I stick to my old life in Summer Bay."

"You will always be," Dani said, "Even if you want to become more close to the DeGroots you will still be you. You will always be Jade!"

Jade took a sip of the tea. It tasted like bitter wine. She didn't answer, the only thing she could think about was the next thing she was going to ask the ocean;

"Maybe I'll always be _Jade_, the question is Jade _Who_?


	4. Chapter 4

**Characters**

**Sally Fletcher **- The main character from the show as we know it returns to the bay after living in Brisbane for more than 5 years. Sally is now returning to SB because she read that Summer Bay High needed a new principal, so she applied for it and got the job.  
**Richard Carson **- Sally's husband. They got married a year before they left the bay. Richard is a lawyer.  
**Pippa Saunders **- Sally's daughter from her marriage with Flynn. Pippa is now 22, and goes to the uni.  
**Wallace Evans **- Pippa's boyfriend. Wallace moved to Summer Bay from the city when he started high school, and he and Pippa have been together since they were 16, and he moved with her when she decided to go with her parents to Brisbane.  
**VJ Patterson **- VJ's mother Leah took over the diner ten years ago when Irene decided to move to England. Leah left Summer Bay eight years ago when she got a job offer in the city. VJ came back to the Bay a year ago because he missed the place he grew up.  
**DeeAnna Phillips **- Kane and Kirsty's daughter is now 21. She was never told much about her past, but when her parents died in a shooting accident a year ago she decided to give up her education in Canberra and move to the place her parents use to live a long time ago so she could find out more about her past.  
**Dana Lawrence** - The main doctor in Summer Bay. Dana moved here with her family fourteen years ago when she got the job.  
**Stephen Lawrence **- Dana's husband. Stephen decided to buy the diner from the last owner (the one who took over after Leah) Before that he worked in Yabbie creek.  
**Wendy Lawrence **- Dana and Stephen's oldest daughter. Wendy is 16, and goes to Summer Bay High.  
**Alexandria Marie Lawrence **- The youngest of the Lawrence-children. Alexandria (her friends call her Alex sometimes) is 14, and wants to hang out with the older youths in the bay.  
**Mike Moore **- Mike is a single father. He moved to the Bay when Sally and Richard left, and baught the caravan park.  
**Jason Moore **- Mike's son. Jason is 16 and has a crush on Wendy Lawrence. Unfortunately he's to shy to ask her out.  
**Johannah Davies **- Wendy's best friend. Johannah is a bit of a trouble-maker, and has been running away from several foster homes after her parents died.  
**Lillian Ray **- A detective living in Summer Bay

I'll add more characters later if people like the beginning and the story goes on. On my list of characters to-come is several people we already know from the show today, or relatives of them.

**Chapter 1: Home to the Bay.**

"All the boxes labeled 'Pippa' goes to the garage apartment!" Sally Fletcher instructed the men she had hired to help her move all the stuff.  
The house was all cleaned up, and the last truck with boxes was about to leave Brisbane and head south.  
"Hi, honey, how are you?" Richard Carson wrapped his arms around his wife. Sally turned her head and smiled at him.  
"Fine," she said, "It's gonna be weird leaving this place though."  
"Where's Pippa?" Richard asked.  
"She's over at Wallace's helping him pack his last stuff before she's leaving with him later today." Sally replied.  
"I thought she was leaving with us?" Richard said.  
"No," his wife answered, "She wanted to get down to the Bay and start unpacking with Wallace as soon as possible so she could help us unpacking our stuff later."  
The conversation was interrupted by one of the moving guys names John.  
"I tried to find the directions on the internet, I found Yabbie Creek, but I didn't find Summer Beach."  
"Summer Bay" Sally corrected him.  
"I've never even heard of that town"  
Sally and Richard looked at each other, smiling.  
"Summer Bay might be a small town, but I'm telling you, there's a lot going on even though you haven't heard of it..." Richard said with a smile.

"Wendy, can I borrow a pair of jeans?"  
"Wendy is not home yet, Alex!" Dana Lawrence called out from the kitchen.  
Alexandria Lawrence rolled her eyes, Wendy had went out to hang in the diner and drool at VJ Patterson who worked there again. Alex hated it when her sister left her out of things. Especially things involving the older people in the Bay. Nothing big had happened for a long time, and the only thing Alex liked about living in Summer Bay was the older youths.  
She sighed, and sat down on her bed. If just something fun could happen here soon. When adults talked about Summer Bay they talked about it like it was the most incredible place on earth, but Alex had a feeling the golden era of the Bay belonged in the past.  
The Diner hadn't been anything special since Leah Baker sold it. The man who took over the Beachside Diner renamed it the Summer Bay Diner. A boring name. And now that her father had taken over she couldn't hang out there without getting the feeling he was constantly watching her every move.  
Noah's bar was the only thing that seemed to remain the same as it had been for over 20 years. Alex didn't really know the details of the story, but knew it had something to do with a stalker, a guy who died, and that the story made all people who knew it emotional.  
But the bar wasn't really a good place to hang out either. Most of the guests were tired 30- and 40-year olds who wanted a drink after work.  
Alex suddenly woke up from her daydreaming when she heard the entrance door open and close. Wendy was home!  
Alex practically ran to the kitchen where Wendy and Dana were sitting.  
"You'll never guess who I ran into today!" Wendy said, and Alex could yell it was good news.  
"Sean Preston Spears!" Alex said, trying to be funny.  
"Ha ha," Wendy said in a sarcastic voice, "You know those Hollywood-jokes of yours are getting really old?"  
There was a short pause before Dana broke the silence:  
"Who did you run into, honey?" she asked.  
"Pippa Saunders and Wallace Evans!" Wendy said, unable to hide how excited she was.  
"Really?!" Dana replied.  
"Yeah, totally!" Wendy laughed. "Sally and Richard have bought the white house with the view of the beach, and Pippa and Wallace are moving in to the garage apartment!"  
"I can't believe Wallace and Pippa are still together," Dana said, shaking her head and smiling, "It seems like just yesterday Pippa was in my office, telling me about her crush on the new boy from the city."  
Wendy smiled, "Well, they're back, and Sally and Richerd are coming soon too!"  
Alexa had left the kitchen. She remembered Pippa as the big girl she had admired, and opened her heart for when she babysat her while Wendy was hanging out with her cool friends.

Sally reached out and searched for new radio stations as the one they had been listening too was getting more and more unclear.  
"Why don't you use the internet connection to find the stations?" Richard asked.  
"I prefer the old way," Sally replied, "and also I wanna find out when we can get the signal from the Summer Bay Radio. I though we would have got it by now, we're almost there!"  
Richard cleared his throat.  
"Umm... Honey, the radio station in Summer Bay closed down two years ago."  
Sally stared at her husband.  
"Why?" she asked.  
"A lot of people have left the Bay the last couple of years, and there was just no need for a radio station anymore. Yabbie Creek Alernative has taken over."  
Sally sighed. It was going to be weird to see all the old places again, and she really hoped things weren't changed too much.  
The sunset was beautiful as they drove up the hill. They were out of Yabbie Creek now, and around the next corner...  
"Look, there's the sign..." Sally said quietly as the "WELCOME TO SUMMER BAY" sign appeared in front of them.  
No one said anything for a few minutes until they came out of the part of the road where there was nothing to see but trees. Right before them Summer Bay was laying, just like they left it, yet so different.  
The beach, the town, the sunset, it was all there.  
"Welcome home, honey" Richard said as they drove in direction of the beach.  
Sally smiled. All these things brought back so many memories. Now all she had to worry about was how the future in the Bay would be...

**Chapter 2: The new old Summer Bay**

"VJ, could you get those coffees out to table 5?" Stephen Lawrence said. It was 11.30 and all the lunch guests were coming to the Summer Bay Diner.  
VJ grabbed four cups of coffee. During his time working here he had become an expert coffee waiter, able to carry up to five cups at the time.  
Most times he managed to serve the customers without spilling coffee of them. He managed that today too, but unfortunately...  
"Hey! Watch out!" Wendy came down the stairs from the storage room and dropped a bag of frozen fries. The bag hit VJ in the shoulder, and all the coffee was spilled out as he lost the cups.  
"Oh, can't you guys be more careful?!" Stephen said angrily.  
Both Wendy and VJ muttered "We're sorry", but Stephen just shook his head and left the kirchen to go serv the customers.  
"I'll make new coffee," Wendy said.  
"Two latté, one regular and a cappuchino with extra foam" VJ answered.  
In a last desperate attempt to make VJ like her better Wendy looked at him with her best puppy face and said "I'm soooo sorry I dropped the fries on you, VJ..."  
"That's okay" he answered and left the kitchen with the milkshakes for table 3. Wendy sighed and started cleaning up the mess. Would he ever see her as anything else but a waitress working for her father?  
She was just about to feel really sorry for herself when VJ returned.  
"Sally Fletcher is here. She ordered a large espresso, and your father said we'd better not mess this order up" he smiled.  
Wendy smiled back. Maybe things weren't too dark looking after all? At least they could share some good diner-humour.

The water was great. Not too cold, and not with too many waves. Pefect for swimming!  
"I can't believe we're actually back!" Wallace said as he and Pippa left the water and reached out for the towells they had left on the beach.  
"I know" Pippa replied, "it's good to be here again though."  
"I should go back to the house, the dean at the uni said he'd call to confirm our student id's today, and I left my mobile." Wallace said  
"Okay" Pippa answered, "I think I'll go over to the diner to grab a coffee before I go home"  
Wallace nodded. "I guess I'll see you later, then." He kissed her, and headed to the house.  
Pippa dried her long, dark hair with the towell, and put on the dress she had brouhgt.  
In the Summer Bay diner all the lunch customers had left, and only a scruffy looking teenage girl in the corner drinking a glass of juice was left.  
Pippa rang the bell on the counter and a young man came out from the kitchen.  
"I'm sorry I wasn't here to serve you when you came," he said "I'm the only one working at the moment"  
Pippa just smiled, he hadn't looked at her long enough to recognize her yet.  
"That's okay. It's great to see you, VJ" she said.  
VJ looked up.  
"Pippa?!" He said, sounding like he couldn't believe she was here.  
"It's so great to see you too!" He lughed, and they hugged.  
"So, how are you?" Pippa asked.  
All of a sudden VJ was ashamed of his life. Beautiful Pippa was coming from Brisbane, and he was working in a diner serving people coffee and burgers.  
"Umm... I'm okay I guess..." He said, "what about you?"  
Pippa smiled again. "Oh, I'm fine, just a little busy you know, transferring from the uni in Brisbane and everything, but it's great to be back!"  
"So you're back to stay?" VJ asked.  
"Yeah," Pippa replied.  
VJ smiled at her and took her coffee order. As he made her the double latté to go and handed her the cup he couldn't stop smiling. Pippa was back to stay! He couldn't believe ha hadn't thought of her when Stephen said Sally and Richard was back.  
"Here's your change," he said.  
"Oh, you just keep it" Pippa said.  
VJ thanked her and watched her leave the diner. For the rest of his shift he couldn't stop smiling.

It was dusk, and Sally went down to the beach. A lot of things were changed in Summer Bay, but the beach was just as she left it. She had so many memories from the beach. Childhood memories. Playing in the waves and bilding sand castles...  
This was the beach she had taken Pippa to play when she was little. And this was the beach where she had spread Flynn's ashes.  
Sally sat down in the sand. She was happy with Richard, and she loved him, but he wasn't the only man she loved.  
For a few minutes she just sat there, staring at the horizon, thinking about Flynn and Richard.  
It was almost dark when she got up and brushed the sand off her clothes.  
Before the went back to the house, she turned her head and looked at the ocean one more time.  
"I still love you, Flynn..." she said quitely before she walked home to her husband.

Wendy checked her watch. 9.30, she was late!  
"I'll go to bed now!" she said, and left the living room before her mother got the chance to once again point out how early she went to bed. After speniding the shortest time in the bathroom ever Wendy hurried to her room.  
Johannah was already at the window.  
Wendy opened the window more and let her friend in.   
"That was about time," Johannah said, "Your mom didn't find out, did she?"  
"No, she has no idea" Wendy smiled.  
Johannah laughed.  
"She must be so stupid! You've been sneaking me into your room for three weeks, and she hasn't noticed!"  
"Shhh!! We have to keep it down, or she'll find you and kick you out!" Wendy said.  
"Oh. I forgot." Johannah replied. "I have some news for you..."  
Wendy could tell there wasn't good news.  
Johannah cleared her throat. "I was in the diner today, and I saw your so called friend Pippa Saunders flirting with VJ"

In the meantime VJ was on the phone. He had just given someone the directions to the Caravan park, and now he needed to speak to Sally.  
Sally picked up the phone.  
"Hello?"  
"Sally? This is VJ Patterson"  
"Oh! Hi, VJ!"  
"I'm so sorry to be calling you so late, but I thought I should give you a little warning."  
"Warning?" Sally sounded worried.  
"Well... More like some good old town gossip" VJ said.  
"Okay..." Sally replied.  
"Do you remember Kirsty and Kane Phillips?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"Well," VJ said, "A young woman just dropped by to ask for directions to the Caravan park. She said her name was DeAnna Phillips, she's Kane and Kirsty's daughter."

**Chapter 3: Related to the truth**

Pippa was sitting in the sand at the beach, listening to music and reading today's issue of The Coastal News on her MediaPort.  
Four years ago the last paper issue of The Coastal News was released, and now all the stories were posted on the internet, and available for anyone anywhere in the world as long as they had a laptop or a MediaPort.  
Nothing big seemed to be happening in the area. She had heard VJ and Wendy talk about a party on the beach soon, but of course that wasn't in the paper.  
The mayor election was coming up, but Pippa didn't find it interesting. Her reading was interrupted whe someone sat down next to her. It was VJ Patterson.  
"Hi" he said. Pippa removed her handsfree and turned of the music. "Hi," she replied, "When is the party going to be?"  
"Why? Are you going?" he laughed as if he found that very funny.  
"Yes, maybe, why wouldn't I?" Pippa said.  
VJ looked at her. "Well, you know," he said, "You've been living in Brisbane, parties here are totally different. Fourteen year olds party with twenty five year olds, and it's probably not the kind of parties you are used to."  
Pippa rolled her eyes, "I'll anyway! We can still have fun. Are you going?"  
VJ smiled at her. "Why wouldn't I? This is the only way of partying I know, I'm a small-town guy, remember?"  
"And I'm still just a small-town girl," Pippa replied. Then she bit her lip, wishing she had never said that last sentence. "I have to go!" she said, and got up before he got the chance to answer.  
She hurried home to the house, trying hard to tell herself she had to lay off. After all she was with Wallace now.

The doorbell rang, and Wallace woke up on the couch. The doorbell rang again, "Okay, okay, I'm comin'..." he muttered, and went to open the door.  
Outside was a young woman, not more than 21 or 22. She had long, brown hair, and beautiful dark eyes.  
"Hi, I'm looking for Sally Fletcher?" she said, it was a question.  
"The other door" Wallace said.  
"Thanks," she replied, and turned away.  
Wallace couldn't help watching her as she walked over to Sally and Richard's entrance door. It was something about that face. And the way she smiled when she thanked him. He had seen that smile somewhere else before...

"I'm so glad schools almost over for the year," Alex said. She was walking home with Jason Moore. She felt kind of sorry for Jason, he had a crush on Wendy, but Wendy didn't want to hang out with him. She knew that feeling a little too well.  
"Yeah," Jason replied, "And there's gonna be a big party at the beach the last day, are you going?"  
"I think so," Alex said, "It could be fun."

Dana was carrying a basket full of clothes. She opened the door to Wendy's room, and once again the got a feeling something was going on. She didn't know what it was, maybe the t-shirt in the laundry last week she didn't recognize... Maybe the fact that Wendy seemed to want to go to bed early every night instead of pushing the come-home-time from 10.30 to 11... or maybe it was the unfamiliar smell in the room? Somehow the room smelled like cigarettes, but it couldn't be Wendy. If it was Wendy she would have figured out from the smell of her clothes weeks ago. No, something weird was going on right under her nose.  
Dana sighed and started putting clothes into Wendy's closet. Her pile of clothes seemed so much bigger than it used to be.

The wind blew her hair in her eyes, and DeAnna Phillips shook her head in a gracious way to see better. Some guy passing by turned his head, and DeAnna smiled. She was beautiful, and she knew it.  
"So, you came back just to learn more about your parents?" Sally asked. She and DeAnna was walking at the beach.  
"I just wanted to find out more about Summer Bay," she said, "my parents never told me much about their past, and I have never met any of my family, so after the accident I came here to see if I could track some of my relatives down."  
"Well," Sally said, "I'm afraid none of them are living here anymore. As far as I know Shelley and Rhys -your grandparents live in the US now, and I don't know where Jade and Laura and Dani are. Of course you can concider Irene and the Hunters family too, but I'm afraid they're not living here anymore."  
"Where do Irene and the Hunters live?" DeAnna asked.  
"Well, Beth and Tony live in Perth I think, and Irene is in England. Robbie and Tasha are in the US, Scott, Henry, Mattie and Kit I don't know about."  
"Is there any people who lived in the Bay when my parents lived here left at all?" DeAnna laughed.  
"Well, I'm still here," Sally said, "And Alf lives in a centre in Yabbie Creek. He suffers from Alzheimer's, and I don't think he'll be able to tell you anything."  
"Can you tell me anything, then?" DeAnna looked at her, and Sally suddenly realized how much she looked like Kirsty, but even more beautiful.  
"I can tell you what I know. What do you want to know?" she said. DeAnna's answer wasn't the one Sally had thought she'd get:  
"I want you to tell me about all the people my father hurt, and how he raped Dani Sutherland."

"I'm telling you, I think there's something more to that girl than just a pretty face," Sally told Richard. He had heard the stories about Kirsty and Kane, and knew who DeAnna was.  
The music was loud, and the beach was crowded with people dancing and having a good time.  
"She actually wanted to hear about the bad stuff her parents did? Are you sure she wasn't just worried they were bad people?"  
"No, Richard," Sally said, "You should have seen the look in her eyes, when I told her about all the tragedy in the Bay they were a part of, and not just the things they caused, but the stalking, the hostages and everything!"  
"Well, do you think she is like her father?" Richard asked.  
"No, not at all!" Sally replied, "Kane made some mistakes, but he changed, and I don't think DeAnna's behaviour has anything to do with her being related to a criminal."  
"So what do you think then?" Richard was confused, Sally knew the Bay much better than he did.  
"I'm thinking," she slowly said, "that maybe what she told us about her intentions for this visit is only related to the truth..."

Down by the water Pippa was dancing with VJ. Wallace was talking to Mike Moore, and it wasn't like it meant anything. The whole Bay was at the beach, so if she wanted to cheat on her boyfriend this wouldn't be the ideal place to do it.  
She was just having fun. A little alcohol, good music, the sound of the waves crashing into the beach and some good friends. It was a beautiful night, and it was summer.  
"You look really great tonight..." VJ said. The compliment came out of nowhere, and Pippa couldn't help smiling.  
"Thank you" she said.  
"You always look beautiful," VJ continued. What happened next was just a blur. It was one of thos moments when things just happen, and all of a sudden VJ and Pippa were kissing.  
Suddenly they both realized how stupid this was. Pippa turned her head away just to discover it was too late. Wallace had seen the kiss.

So had Wendy, and she was in a lousy mood when she came home twenty minutes later. Her mother had been watching her and Johannah all night, and it made her really nervous. Johannah was wearing her dress, and it looked like Dana had seen that and found it weird.  
Wendy opened the door, and went inside for another lousy surprise. Dana and Stephen were both waiting for her. They stood there silent for almost a minute before Dana opened her mouth.  
"Tell us the truth, Wendy," she said, in an awfully calm voice, "the game is over."

**Chapter 4: Silence and thunder**

The silence was so painful.  
Pippa wished Wallace would yell at her, tell her how stupid she was and make her cry. Then she would say she was sorry, he would be sorry for making her cry, she would say it was a mistake, they would hug, and it would all be forgotten by tomorrow.  
This was much worse. Wallace pretended like he hadn't seen the kiss, but Pippa knew he had. He walked her home, but didn't say a word.

VJ Patterson looked up at the dark clothes coming in from the pacific ocean.  
They had been really lucky with the timing. Last night had been beautiful and warm, this morning was dark grey and cold.  
Last night had also been a disaster. While he was jogging he couldn't get his mind off thinking what would happen if he ran into Wallace at the beach.  
The headache he had was much worse that it should be concidering he hadn't been drinking that much. VJ figured it was from the events of the night before, and the kiss... A beautiful disaster.  
He was almost home when the it started raining, and not to far away he could hear the thunder.

Pippa couldn't shut up anymore. "Please tell me what you're thinking!"  
Wallace looked up from his MediaPort.  
"I think it's a mystery that the cops haven't caught the men behind the robbery in Central Bank of Sydney" he said.  
Pippa felt her hands shaking, he knew what she was talking about!  
"I mean about last night!" she said, her desperate voice made her sound almost angry.  
Wallace was silent for a moment.  
"I wonder if there was more than a kiss." he finally said.  
"You were there," Pippa said, "you know it was just dancing and a kiss!" she didn't mean to sound so angry, after all Wallace was the victim here.  
"I mean, do you have feelings for him?" Wallace said, he was awfully calm.  
"I love YOU, Wallace!" Pippa said. It was like a reflex giving him that answer, because every time he had doubted her love that had been the right answer. But was it the right anwer anymore, or was it just a reflex?  
"But do you have feelings for VJ Patterson?" Wallace repeated.  
Pippa stared at him. "I told you I love you," she said, feeling something warm on her cheek. Great, now she was crying.  
"I know you love me, but I need to know if you have feelings for VJ too?"  
Silence, awful silence. Pippa couldn't think of anything to say. Wallace looked just like he had since he saw Pippa and VJ kiss at the beach.  
"Well, there you go then..." he said, and left the house.

"Mom, you don't understand!" Wendy cried, "Johannah doesn't have any place to stay"  
"That doesn't matter," Dana replied, "She can't stay here!"  
"You're a doctor, you should know she can't live outdoors!"  
Dana shook her head. "She can't, you're right. And that's why I have contacted the foster home services."  
"NO!" Wendy couldn't believe what she just heard.  
"Yes," Dana said in a way stating that the dicussion was over, "Jahannah will be picked up later today, and they will start looking for a home for her."

"I have some information for you about DeAnna Phillips," Detective Lillian Ray sat down next to Sally in the diner.  
"Let's go" Sally said, looking around to see if anyone was listening to them, "if it's about DeAnna Phillips we can't take it here."  
The two women walked out of the diner together. Sally had hired Detective Ray to find out more about DeAnna's past.  
The clouds were dark even though it was 11 o'clock. The ocean was dark and the waves were gettign bigger. Crashing on the beach like a warning to everyone who wanted to go for a swim. "Don't come too close... I'm angry... and as soon as the rain starts falling, washing sand on the rocks away, I'll be furious."  
"What did you find out?" Sally asked.  
"Well," Detective Ray said, "We have found out she is not a registered Australian citizen, she's registered in Colombia, so we're waiting for the Colombian government to send her file. Then we'll know more."  
"Okay," Sally said, "Tell me as soon as you find out more."

Pippa felt like she had been crying for hours when Wallace finally came back.  
She stormed out in the hallway to meet him.  
"Wallace, I'm so sorry! I love you, only you!"  
"No, you don't," Wallace simply said. "And I'm gonna make it easy for you."  
Pippa stared at him and he continued: "I want what's best for you, and if you want to be with VJ there'll be no hard feelings, I promise. But if you choose VJ, then I'm gonna have to ask you to stay with him until we've figured out what to do with the house."  
Pippa couldn't believe it, they had only been living together for two weeks in Summer Bay and it seemed like their relationship was already at a breaking point.  
"I-" Pippa said, crying again, "I think I need to go for a walk."  
Wallace looked at her.  
"I just need to be alone if you choose VJ," he said.

Pippa's loud crying was drowned by the sound of the waves, still getting bigger and angrier. How could she even let Wallace think she needed to think about this?!  
She was cheating on him, and he said the decision was in her hands, and that they'd still be friends if she chose VJ. What was that? He had to be only the nicest guy on the planet! And she didn't know anything about VJ? What if he had changed, turned into a total stranger, and didn't want anything but a flirt?  
She was just about to turn around and walk home when a car slowed down next to her. Probably someone who was trying to get to the City but had taken the wrong exit and ended up in the Bay of drama.  
Before Pippa could even react she was grabbed, her eyes was covered, someone put a wet piece of fabric over her mouth and she was dragged into the car.  
The last thing she remembered before she doze off was the sound of thunder...

**Chapter 5: New information**

Wallace opened another beer. He wanted to get drunk. Really drunk and fall asleep on the couch. Wake up tomorrow with the biggest headache, just so he wouldn't feel the pain Pippa left him when she walked out on him last night.  
He drank half the can, and sighed. He had really thought she'd at least tell him she had decided to go with VJ. She hadn't even brought any clothes.  
"She's probably wearing one of VJ's big shirts," he thought, and he couldn't help feeling bitter. He remembered when it was his big shirts she used to wear.

VJ turned in his bed. It was late, but the rain kept him awake. It sounded like the entire ocean had been trapped in the clouds, and had managed to escape.  
Once again VJ checked the alarm clock. It was 3 o'clock in the morning, and like the night before he had to face it alone. Pippa was with Wallace, and that was where she wanted to be.  
Outside the rain was still washing down, falling into the wild and angry ocean, and making small thunder sounds as it hit the rocks at the beach, washing the sand away.

The sun broke through the grey clouds, and lightened up the Bay.  
Wallace woke up with the worst headache since the party after graduation from High School. The first thing he did was check the house. No notes, and all Pippa's clothes were in the closet. She hadn't been home.

"A burger with extra cheese and a lemon smoothie for table eight, please!" the atmosphere was rather cold and unwelcoming at the Summer Bay Diner. VJ was running back and forth with orders from customers, and Wendy was working in the kitchen again. Or, the truth was actually she was hiding in the kitchen, afraid of what might happen if Johannah came by.  
Stephen was out of town and had put VJ in charge of the diner.  
"Two more de-cafs, pronto!" VJ was back again.  
"Yes, it's coming, relax!" Wendy was in a bad mood.  
"When is your sister coming?" VJ asked.  
"I don't know, okay?!" Wendy was getting really annoyed. All he ever did was kiss other girls in front of her and yell orders at her.  
"She said she'd come as soon as she had showered."  
VJ didn't even answer. He returned to the customers. Secretly he was hoping to see Pippa agin today. He hadn't seen her since the party, and he wanted to know if they were okay.

Lillian Ray opened the e-mail from the government of Colombia. The wrote down the referrence number, and typed it in on the DocExchange machine. Pretty soon a copy of DeAnna Phillips' file was printed out.  
Lillian found it weird that they couldn't e-mail the file, that wasn't actually good news. But on the other hand this had happened before.  
Lillian sighed and started reading, she had probably forgot paying her taxes, and all of a sudden the government made her file the protected file of a criminal.  
Born in 2005 in El Paso, Texas, registered on six different addresses in South America before she turned eighteen...  
Lillan kept reading DeAnna's perfectly normal file. This file could have belonged to anyone.  
Detective Ray turned over the first sheet, and frowned as she kept reading.  
Five minutes she was finished reading. She knew she should call Sally, but somehow that didn't feel right. This wasn't just something you could drop off on unprepared clients. This was big stuff.

Wallace took another painkiller, and forced himself to leave the house.  
The ocean had never been so noisy, and it seemed like all the seagulls and playing children was gathered on the beach to make Wallace's headache even worse than it already was.  
Of course the diner was crowded with youth celebrating the summer, in a loud way.  
Wallace tried to block out all the noise and ordered a coffee from Wendy.  
Wendy had finally managed to push VJ over the edge by mixing up the orders, and he took over for her in the kitchen.  
However, he didn't know how to make the new smoothies Stephen had put on the menu, so Wendy took over again and VJ went out in the diner to serve the customers.  
It was slightly awkward when he gave Wallace his coffee.  
"So..." Wallace said, VJ swallowed, "...erm... could you... tell Pippa she left her MediaPort at the house? She probably needs it..."  
VJ looked up, "Why can't you tell her yourself?"  
"Because she's at your place!"  
"No..." VJ replied, "She's not."  
This was getting ridicolous.  
"She has to be at your place," Wallace said, "She left home last night and went over to you!"  
Suddenly it was like no one was talking in the diner anymore. Their mouths were moving, but VJ couldn't hear anything but his own voice when he said: "I'm serious, I haven't seen her since the party..."

**Chapter 6: Darkness**

"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" Sally said, staring at Wallace.  
"I haven't seen her since she left yesterday, and she's not answering her mobile!"  
Sally was speechless. She just stared at Wallace for several seconds before she managed to say something.  
"Why didn't you try to find her when she didn't come home?"  
"Okay," Wallace said, "I'll tell you the story..."  
"Yeah, you better!" Sally replied, both angry and worried at the same time.  
Wallace took a deep breath and started with the beginning, "Since we moved back to Summer Bay Pippa has been hanging out with VJ Patterson..."

The ropes that tied her wrists together hurt, and she had no idea where she was.  
Pippa was terrified and confused. She had no idea what had happened, or when it had happened. The last thing she could remember was hearing thunder outside the car she had been pulled into. She hadn't been able to see anything because of the scarf tied tight around her head, covering her eyes. She had fallen asleep right after she was dragged into the car, it probably had something to do with the smelly piece of fabric they had covered her mouth with. She had no idea what day it was, where she was, why she was here or who had kidnapped her. She remembered the man she saw in the car when she was picked up in the Bay, but she had no idea if there was more people than him involved in this.  
Pippa tried to move, but froze when she heard a voice.  
"Well, well, well... Isn't it my little flower?"

"...So I figured she'd spent the night at VJ's or at your place, but then VJ told me he hadn't seen you, and I knew she wasn't with you guys," Wallace finished.  
Richard put his arms around his wife who was standing still as a statue and white as a ghost.  
"How could you not ask us if we knew where she was?" Sally sounded angry and shocked at the same time.  
"Look, I'm sorry!" Wallace replied, "But I was devastated and hurt, and I didn't want to upset you guys."  
Sally just shook her head again, and opened her mouth, ready to yell at Wallace for being selfish, but Richard spoke before his wife got the chance.  
"I'm sure she's all right," he said, "We just need to ask around, and someone will tell us where she is!"  
"What if they don't?" Wallace said.  
Richard didn't look at him.  
"Then we'll have to think about something else..." he said.

The car was parked again. Because of the ductape over her mouth, she couldn't scream for help, and it wouldn't help trying to kick in the wall, because she was rolled into two blankets. She still didn't have any idea where she was or what time it was.  
She was too afraid to try to do anything to get attention even if she could, she had no idea if there still was people left with her in the car.  
Pippa managed to move a little so her ears weren't covered by the blanket. She could hear voices, were they in the car? No, voices outside the car.  
Should she try to draw attention to herself? No, she needed to know it wasn't the kidnappers, she had to hear their conversation.  
"...how's Mitch doing?" it was a woman, but Pippa didn't recognize her voice.  
"Oh, he's working late again," another voice said, it sounded like a conversation between old friends outside a super market. Pippa took a chance, and wriggeled her body over to one of the walls. Because of the tight blanket wrapped around her it was hard to kick, but somehow she managed to make some muted bumps after a few attempts.  
She stopped to check if anyone had heard her.  
"...I'm glad it's Saturday, I have been so busy all week..." the conversation was still going on, and Pippa tried to kick again.  
After five kicks the door was opened, strong hands grabbed her hard and moved her away from the wall.  
"I don't think so, honey..." it was the kidnapper again. Pippa was terrified.  
Soon after the car started again, and Pippa was once again alone with her thoughts, wrapped in a dirty blanket.  
She knew she had been kidnapped on a Friday, and according to the conversation she had heard it was Saturday today. That meant she hadn't been gone for more than 24 hours.  
Knowing what day it was couldn't help her escape, but somehow it made her feel a lot better.

"YES, we have called all her friends!" Sally cried, "We even called her closest friends in Brisbane, but no one knows where she is!"  
Detective Hartford sighed, "I assure, Mrs. Fletcher, everything will be done to find your daughter, but we need to be sure she's not with any friends."  
He stood up, and took a deep breath.  
"I'll be right back, I just need to speak to one of the other detectives first," he said, and left the room.  
VJ looked at the floor, he couldn't look at the others. Wallace was staring out of the window, Sally was crying and Richard tried to be strong. They all blamed him for this, he just knew it! And he blamed himslef too, if he hadn't kissed Pippa this would never have happened.

Detective Hartford looked at them through the one-way window showing the interrogation room.  
"I guess I should wait a while before I break the news about DeAnna Phillips then," Detective Lillian Ray said, looking at her friend and co-worker.  
"Yes, they're not even ready for the truth about the kidnapping," he replied.  
"What do you mean? You know where Pippa Saunders is? You know who did it?" Lillian said.  
"No, I don't" Liam said, still looking at the four people in the room on the other side of the glass. "But in a lot of cases like this..." He didn't say it.  
Detective Ray and Detective Hartford looked at each other, and Detective Ray finished the sentence for Hartford:  
"...the kidnapper is a family member or a close friend..."

**Chapter 7: What we do(n't) know**

The news about Pippa Saunders being missing was all over the Bay.  
All of a sudden parents refused to let their children hang out like usual, including Dana and Stephen Lawrence.  
The new rules in the Lawrence family were clear: No leaving the house unless you had told your parents where you were, who you were with and how long you would stay there. The hang-out places was narrowed down to the central beach, the Summer Bay Diner and Noah's bar.  
However, Monday morning Wendy managed to escape her mother's worried and suspicious looks, and successfully go to the diner, only leaving a note telling where she was.  
She didn't tell them who she was with, her parents weren't too happy about her hanging out with Johannah at the moment.  
Now both the girls were in the diner, drinking milkshake. Wendy had chosen the time to meet. She knew her father was busy helping out with the searching for Pippa, and Mike Moore had taken over. VJ wasn't working, he was too busy being questioned by the police and too shaken up to serve customers milkshake.  
Since the news had slipped out the atmosphere in the diner had changed. What used to be a happy place with students enjoying their holiday and only worrying about their tan was now a place for whispering people dicussing who to blame for this mess.  
"Can't they talk about something else for a change?" Johannah said, she was in a lousy mood. After Dana kicked her out she had been living in a foster home, but she spent all her time hanging around the Bay. She didn't like her foster home, and was glad it only was temporarily.  
"What else is there to talk about here?" Wendy said. Johannah rolled her eyes.  
"I dunno," she said, "there's gotta be something. In the City this happens all the time, and no one cares."  
"I guess it's because this is a small town..." Wendy replied.  
"Still, if the kidnapper hears all the talk he will probably find it encouraging. Like he succeeded shaking up an entire town." Johannah said, staring at something far, far away.  
"Well, we're talking about it too, y'know..." her best friend pointed out.  
"But we question it instead of listening to all the small-town gossip, and all the people who think they know who the mur- kidnapper is." Johannah blushed. She almost said murderer. Wendy narrowed her eyes.  
"Why do I get the feeling you know more about this than you're telling me?" she said.  
Johannah looked at her for the first time in several minutes.  
"Whaddaya'know," she said, "you're on your way to becoming one of _them_."

Detective Hartford wasn't getting any closer to the kidnapper.  
All the family members had alibis, and so had VJ Patterson. The only suspect without alibi was Wallace, but Hartford didn't think it was him.  
It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon the police finally got a tip worth following.  
Wallace had mentioned that Pippa thought she had feelings for VJ, and later Dana Lawrence had told the police about Wendy having a crush on VJ, and her, in her opinion, dangerous friend Johannah.  
When the police officers picked up Johannah, she didn't protest.  
"You don't know anything about what could have happened to Pippa Saunders?" Detective Ray.  
"No, I told you I haven't." Johannah replied, sounding bored in a rude way.  
Detective Hartford didn't really want her to leave, he had a feeling she knew something.  
"Can you think of anyone who would do this to her?"  
"Look," Johannah said, "WHY would I do this to Pippa Saunders? I don't even know her!"  
"You are best friends with Wendy Lawrence," Liam said, "and Pippa was coming on to VJ, who Wendy appearantly has a crush on. You could do it for your best friend."  
Johannah actually laughed. "I just got kicked out of her house," she said, "If I wanted to do something like that for her, the timing would be pretty weird, huh?"  
"You could have planned it before you got kicked out." Hartford said.  
"Well, there wouldn't have been much time for that. There was only like 18 hours between the party where Pippa kissed VJ and her being kidnapped. Do you really think a homeless teenage girl would plan a kidnapping to help her best friend, whose house she just had been kicked out of, with her pathetic love life?!"  
Liam hated to admit it, but she actually had a point.  
"And you're sure no one you know could have done it?"  
"I don't know," she said, "All I know is that I wouldn't do it. I might not be the perfect person, but I wouldn't KIDNAP anyone. Ever."  
"Are you saying someone you know could have done it?"  
"It's a small town."  
Johannah's rude and smart way of twisting the questions was so annoying, and Hartford was just about to give up.  
"What I want to know," he said, forcing himself to stay calm, "is if can think of any of your friends that would do such a thing?"  
An idea suddenly fell into Johannah's head. Maybe...  
"No, I have no idea," she lied.  
Detective Liam Hartford sighed.  
"You can go for now," he said.

**Chapter 8 - Mistakes**

The street was empty. No vitnesses around.  
Johannah hurried across the street, and knocked on the door.  
"Open up!" she said, worried that someone would drive by and se her before she got in to the house.  
The door was opened, and a young woman with long, red hair and a beautiful face came out. She was tall, and her eyes were cold as ice.  
"What do you want, Jo?" she asked, not sounding pleased to see her at all.  
"I need to talk to you about your brother, but you have to let me in!" Johannah replied, desperately looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching them.  
The woman with the red hair rolled her eyes.  
"Ahh, please don't tell me that idiot is in trouble again?" she sighed, before she let Johannah in.

Detective Ray and Detective Hartford was still not getting any closer to the kidnapper. No one had heard anything from Pippa, or the kidnapper, and secretly both of the detectives was losing faith.  
They both knew the chances for Pippa to be alive was small, and they hoped for a quick solving of the case. Walking around without not knowing what was going on was tearing everone apart. Sally, Wallace, VJ, Richard, the Detectives...  
Detective Ray knew she shouldn't get so personally involved in her cases, but when something like this happened in a town like Summer Bay she just couldn't help it.  
To take her mind off for a while she decided to read through the DeAnna Phillips file one more time, to prepare herself to tell Sally the weird story.  
Of course she would wait till after the Pippa-case was closed, but no one knew when that would be, so she could just as well get started on preparing herself.  
Lillian was looking through all her documents, but the DeAnna Phillips file wasn't to be found.  
"Maria!" she called out to the office secretary, "have you seen the DeAnna Phillips file?"  
Maria entered the office Detective Ray shared with Hartford and two other detectives.  
"Yes, I just DocExchanged it to Sally Feltcher this morning. I e-mailed the permission number fivr minutes ago."  
Detective Ray was speechless for a moment, before she practically yelled:  
"WHY?!!"  
"It was marked Sally Fletcher, coded yellow," Maria said, "and since code yellow is medium priority I DocExchanged it because that was the highest coded priority on your desk."  
"Thanks Maria," Lillian sighed. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been. How could she have forgotten to remove the priority label when Pippa was kidnapped?  
There was only one way to avoid that Sally saw the file now, Lillian had to get down to the house and get the file back somehow, before Sally read it.

"She refused to tell them what she saw?" Sally said, staring at Lillian. Her voice was full of hatred, and the hand she held the copy of the file in was shaking.  
Detective Ray couldn't think of a better answer than the truth to this question.  
"Yes," she said, "DeAnna Phillips refused to tell the police anything to clear her parents' names after the shooting."  
"Sit down," Sally said, "and tell me EVERYTHING you know."  
Lillian sighed, but sat down.  
"I don't know much more than you do," she said, "When Kane and Kirsty Phillips were shot the police thought it was an accident, that they were coincidental victims. But then when they asked DeAnna she said she wouldn't say anything about them, so the police got the idea they actually could be the target of a planned murder."  
Sally shook her head, "She's their daughter! Even if she knew they were the target of the shooting, the least thing she could do for them was to clear their names!"  
Lillian bit her lip before she answered.  
"Well," she slowly said, "i don't know, maybe she had something to do with the shooting? What if she had problems with her parents, and she wanted it to look like they deserved it to protect a friend?"  
"Have you read the report?" Sally said, angry, "The persons who shot them shot himself afterwards! There was nothing left for her to protect!"  
Detective Ray didn't know what to say, but Sally wasn't finished yet.  
"I'm gonna confront DeAnna," she said, still angry, "I'm gonna ask her what she's up to!"  
"No," This time Lillian knew what to say, "You are not gonna mention this to anyone, least of all DeAnna!"  
"Then what _are _we gonna do?" Sally replied.  
Lillian took a deep breath.  
"We're gonna find out more by contacting the lawyers in Colombia," she said, "then we'll see what we're gonna do. But before we do anything at all, we're gonna find Pippa."  
What Detective Ray didn't know was that that would happen sooner than anyone thought.

The beach was silent, and it was getting darker and colder as the clock was ticking. The waves were crashing on the empty beach, and made the only sound in the night.  
At the top of the beach an old van slowed down.  
The man inside opened the door and looked around to make sure no one was watching, before he carried a big, brown bag of fabric out of the van and dumped it in the middle of the beach.  
Inside the bag was Pippa Saunders.

**Chapter 9 - Prepared for the worst, hoping for the best**

The machine registering pulse was beeping as Pippa Saunders was brought into the emergency room.  
"Code blue!" A nurse called out, and a doctor stepped forward.  
"Get ready for surgery in surgery 5B!" Dana Lawrence yelled while the other doctors were struggeling to keep Pippa's heart beating.  
"I said," Dr. Lawrence repeated, "get ready for surgery in number 5B, NOW! We need to perform an operation to close the damaged lunge!"  
Pippa had several open wounds from stabbing in her chest, and Dr. Lawrence knew it was a miracle she had survived for this long.  
Some tourist from Perth had found her when he was heading for a some swimming in the Pacific ocean.  
Dana realized she couldn't waste another second thinking about what had already happened.  
"We are losing her!" A doctor called out, and Dana ran over to them to help. Every second mattered now!

VJ was biting his fingernails. On the other side of the room Wallace and Pippa's family was sitting. VJ knew he probably would be welcome to come and sit with them, but he didn't.  
Just the idea of what would happen if he was sitting there with them, and a doctor came out with bad news... He couldn't take it.  
Right now he was prepared for the worst, but hoping for the best...

No one opened the door, and Johannah started knocking again.  
"I know you're there!" she yelled, and it only took a few seconds before the door was opened in a quick, angry motion.  
"I though we were done by now, Johannah?" the readheaded woman said, her voice was cold as ice.  
"No, we're not! What did you tell your brother to do?" Johannah replied, angrier than she had ever been.  
"I told him he did the wrong thing, and that he had to return the girl before someone found out."  
"Well," Johannah said, "she was returned to her home, but in a bag on the beach! Stabbed!"  
"My brother is a little retarded, you know that." the woman simply said, sounding like she didn't care and like the whole situation was boring her to death.  
"What if someone finds out?" Johannah said, desperate now.  
"Well, that really isn't my problem, now is it?" an evil smile made her face look even colder, "After all... You were the one to plan this action..."  
And before she could think of anything to say, the woman had closed the door, leaving Johannah outside.

"Excuse me, are you Pippa Saunders' family?" the doctor said.  
"Yes!" Sally replied, "Is she okay?"  
"We don't know yet," the doctor said, with a frown, "she was stabbed three times in the chest, including one stab damaging her lunge, and she also had six wounds as a result from stabbing in legs and arms. Her arms, and the right leg will be okay, but it could take some more time with the left leg. A lot of muscels are cut over, and it's done a lot of damage around her knee."  
"But she will wake up?" Richard said.  
"We cannot be 100 sure," the doctor replied, "but hopefully she will be all right except for her leg."  
It was like the entire group had been holding in a deep breath for hours, and now finally dared to breathe out.  
"Can we see her?" Sally asked.  
"Yes, but don't saty too long," the doctor replied.  
VJ didn't think it would be right of him to follow. Of course he wanted to see Pippa, but this was meant for the family. He was only a friend. A friend that had caused all this.  
He was just about to walk away, when Sally turned around.  
"Don't you want to join us, VJ?" she asked.  
VJ didn't know what to say, and luckily Sally understood how he felt.  
"Cause you are welcome to join us..." she said, "but it's totally up to you of course."  
VJ hesitated for a moment before he joined the group, trying his hardest to avoid looking at Wallace.

Everyone stayed at the hospital. They weren't allowed to be in her room while the doctors were examining her, so most of the time they spent out in the hall.  
VJ left after an hour, he couldn't take the sad atmosphere at the hospital, he needed to get out.  
But getting out of the hospital didn't help much. He tried to go down to the beach, but it just brought back painful memories. Memories about the party... and it was also here the tourist had found Pippa.  
Later he went up to the diner, but that was even worse. No matter what he did people kept asking him about her, and around 8 o'clock he gave up.  
After escaping Mike Moore and Wendy Lawrence's constant questions about Pippa and her family VJ headed back to the hospital.  
In the silent hospital hallway they were sitting just where he had left them a few hours ago.  
It was an awkward moment when he entered and sat down.  
Again Sally saved the situation before it became a disaster of tension causing arguments.  
"Erm... We should get something to eat," she said, "maybe VJ could sit here for half an hour while we go downstairs to the hospital cafeteria and grab something to eat?"  
"Yeah... That's a good idea," Richard replied, taking the hint.  
Wallace looked like he was about to protest, but realized Pippa had choosed VJ over him, and left with Sally and Richard.  
Pippa was alone in her room now, no doctors around.  
Suddenly VJ felt like crying. This was all his fault!  
If he hadn't been so stupid making a move on Pippa, she would never had left the house that night!  
With tears running down his face, VJ opened the door to Pippa's room, and went in.  
He grabbed a chair and sat down next to her bed.  
She looked like she was sleeping, except for all the scratches on her face, and her arms wrapped in bandages.  
The doctors had told them she had been drugged, beaten up and stabbed. She wasn't in a good shape at all, and it was all his fault!  
"I swear," VJ whispered, grabbing Pippa's left hand, "That whoever did this to you is gonna pay for it!"  
Suddenly something changed on the screen showing Pippa's condition...

Stephen was tired. It had been a long day, and he had answered the questions about Pippa Saunders a million times.  
He felt even more sorry for VJ, he had information, so they asked him even more.  
And Stephen knew it had to be hard on him. Living here without any family, and with one of his closest friends being kidnapped and stabbed...  
He was just about to lock the door, when he saw someone outside, getting off the last bus from Yabbie Creek, and heading towards the diner.  
Stephen sighed. It wasn't tempting to have to deal with another customer, but what choice did he have?  
The young man entered, and the conversation that followed was one of the strangest conversations Stephen had ever had.  
After pointing out the direction to the Caravan Park Stephen was left alone again, and he picked up the phone.  
Sally probably had other things on her mind, but this could be important too.  
"Hello?"   
"Sal, it's Stephen," he replied, "are you busy at the moment?"  
"No, I'm just having dinner while VJ is looking after Pippa."  
"Okay," he said, "Cause I have to ask you something about some people who used to live her. I just had the strangest conversation..."  
Then things started happening fast. Sally said something about a doctor asking them to come with him as he had news about Pippa, and then she hung up.  
Stephen was left alone with the phone, and a feeling something weird was going on.  
Because the way the young man had presented himself made him think there were some really big secrets hidden somewhere...

**Chapter 10 - Too many men**

It was kind of awkward. Everyone was happy now that Pippa was awake, but at the same time no one knew what to say.  
She couldn't tell anything about the kidnapper, couldn't give any information that could help the police get closer to him. What she needed now was support, but who was gonna support her except for the family? VJ or Wallace?  
Detective Ray and Detective Hartford were in her room again, and the family was asked to wait in the hallway.  
Richard had went downstairs to buy coffee, and Sally was outside, calling Stephen back.  
Only VJ and Wallace was left outside Pippa's room, and it was very, very tense and awkward. After five painful minutes, Wallace broke the silence.  
"What are we gonna do?" he asked.  
"About what?" VJ said, even though he knew perfectly well what he was talking about.  
"What are we gonna do about this... situation...?" None of them knew what to call it.  
It was silent for a few seconds before VJ replied.  
"Maybe..." he started, "Maybe we should just try to be there for Pippa, both of us? It's more important for her to get back to normal than to decide who's gonna be with who at the moment."  
"Yeah, I agree," Wallace said, "but we have to make sure we don't make it a competition about being the most caring one."  
VJ nodded, "Yeah, that's not important now."  
"Okay then," Wallace said before they went back to awkward silence again.

"Good to hear that Pippa is okay!" Stephen said, and started blending his coffee again.  
He and Sally were sitting in the diner. Sally had left the hospital because Pippa needed some rest, and gone to the diner where she had promised to meet Stephen.  
"So what did you want to tell me about?" she said.  
Stephen put down his coffee and cleared his throat.  
"Tell me about the guy who was shot here in the Bay 22 years ago." he simply said. Sally was surprised, this was not at all the conversation she had expected.  
"Noah Lawson?" she asked.  
"Yes, Noah," Stephen replied, "was he married? Did he have any kids?"  
Sally didn't undertand anything at all.  
"He was married to Hayley Smith," she said, "But she changed her name to Hayley Lawson after she married him. They were married for about a month before he was shot. They didn't have any kids. Why are you asking?"  
Stephen bit his lip. He didn't know how to say this.  
"There was a young man here yesterday, asking for directions for the Caravan Park."  
"And?" Sally asked.  
"He said his name was Noah," Stephen said, "Noah Lawson."

Wallace had gone home to get some sleep, and Sally and Richard was still not back.  
Pippa was awake, and VJ decided to go in to her room.  
"Hi, sleepy..." he said, and smiled at her.  
She smiled back, but she didn't look happy at all.  
"How are you feeling?" VJ said.  
"I dunno..." Pippa muttered, "not so good I guess."  
"Do you need any painkillers? I can get a nurse..."  
"No," she replied, "It's not hurting anywhere... It's just... I wish I could help the police find him."  
VJ knew what she meant. He placed a chair next to her bed and sat down.  
"They will find him." he said, trying to comfort her.  
"What if they don't?" Pippa said, she had tears in her eyes now, "What if they don't catch him! Then I will have to be scared all the time!"  
Tears had started running down her face now, and VJ took her hand. He was afraid that what he was gonna say next wouldn't help comforting at all.  
"The kidnapper set you free, Pip," he said, "So obviously he didn't... need you anymore, you know what I mean?"  
Pippa nodded. "But I would still feel a lot safer if I knew he was in jail!" she cried.  
"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, I swear!" VJ said, and dried her face with his sleeve.  
Pippa leaned her head on his arm, and pretty soon she fell asleep in VJ's arms.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked as the three of them were walking towards the caravans.  
"Yes, Noah didn't have any children," Sally replied.  
"Hayley had a baby with Scott, named Noah, but naming him Noah Lawson wouldn't make any sense when he was Scott Hunter's baby" she continued.  
They stopped in front of number 12, and Sally knocked.  
The more she explained why she was there, the more she realized she sounded like the gossip witch of the town, but it was too late now.  
"...so," she finished, realizing she was blushing, "would you mind telling us about your parents?"  
Sally almost expected him to slam the door in her face, and refuse to talk to them, but she was wrong.  
"Actually I'm glad you came," Noah said, "because my parents are the reason why I came to Summer Bay. I want to find out more about what happened 21 years ago, before I was born."  
"What do you mean?" Sally asked. She was confused now, why would he want to find out what happened here 21 years ago? Except for the fact that he was born the year, nothing that could affect him had happened from what she could remember.  
"I want to find out more about what happened when my father was shot."  
"What?!!" Sally said, now she was really confused. Could she have mixed up the details for him by referring to Scott as 'his father' and never mentioning his name?  
"Scott Hunter wasn't shot!" Sally said.  
"Scott Hunter?" Noah repeated, "No, I'm talking about my father, Noah Lawson."

**Chapter 11 - Tiny differences**

"But why would Hayley lie to her son about his father?" Pippa asked. She was sitting in her bed, for the first time since the operation.  
"I don't know," Sally said, "but Hayley had never mentioned Scott Hunter when she was talking to Noah."  
"Maybe Scott did something to her, and she didn't want Noah to have anything to do with him?"  
Sally thought for a second before she replied.  
"Yes, maybe, but she should have realized he would find out sooner or later. After all it's impossible that Noah was Noah's father. He died more than a year before Noah junior was born," she said.

The heat was extreme, and VJ had to take a break.  
"Can you watch the diner by yourself, Stephen?" he called out.  
"Sure," Stephen replied from the kitchen, "there's not that many customers right now, and Alexa will help me out."  
VJ took a bottle of ice tea from the fridge, and went outside. Of course it was even hotter outside, but at least it was fresher air than inside the diner.  
He just stood there, staring out at the ocean, daydreaming about surfing.  
When Pippa got better he would take her surfing. He had taught her how to surf several years ago. He wondered if she still remembered what he'd thought her?  
Maybe she would get better before Christmas? They could go surfing in the middle of the nixt on new years Eve if she wanted... That would be so amazing, watching all the fireworks in the Bay from the water. Or maybe they could take the boat if she wasn't ready to surf yet? They could stay out there all night and-  
"What's up?" Wendy said and joined him by the fence.  
"Nothing much," VJ sighed, "I'm just thinking about Pippa..."  
Wendy forced herself not to say anything mean.  
"Are you going to the Christmas barbeque at the beach?" she asked,  
"Probably... When is it?" VJ replied.  
"December 23rd I think," she said.  
It had become a tradition in the Bay. Every year, right before Christmas everyone went to the beach and threw a huge barbeque.  
"Okay, then I guess I'm going..." VJ said.  
"Great!" Wendy replied, "I have to go, but I'll see you later then?"  
"Yeaah..." VJ said, "I guess..."

DeAnna picked up the phone.  
"Hello, DeAnna Phillips speaking," she said.  
"DeAnna, this is Jayne," the caller said.  
"Oh, hi."  
"I just wondered how everything is going?" Jayne said.  
"Not too good. I'm still struggeling with my mission"  
"So you're not coming back to Colombia soon?"   
"No," DeAnna replied, "I have some more cruelty and hatred to dig up first..."

Johannah had been distant and weird lately, but today she almost seemed normal again.  
Now she was sitting on the porch in front of her new foster home, eating an apple.  
She hadn't bothered running away again, even though she didn't like these people either. She would be moved soon anyway. If she showed some good behaviour she might even be moved to Summer Bay like she wanted.  
At the moment she was in Yabbie Creek, and even though it was a bigger town than Summer Bay she wanted to move back.  
The three o'clock bus slowed down, and stopped. Soon Wendy Lawrence was in the driveway.  
"What are you doing here?" Johannah shouted to her best friend. Wendy came running up to the porch.  
"I have juicy stuff for you," she said, catching her breath, "VJ and I are going to the Christmas barbeque together!"

Pippa was sleeping, but woke up when someone opened the door.  
"Oh... I'm sorry! Did I wake you?" Wallace said.  
"Yeah, but that's okay," Pippa replied, "I guess I fell asleep watching daytime tellie..." she smiled, and Wallace smiled back at her.  
"Can't wait to get out of here, can you?" he asked.  
"Are you joking? I can't wait to get home!"  
Wallace sat down.  
"How are you?" he said. Pippa didn't answer. She was tempted to say se was okay, but she wasn't.  
"I feel bad..." she finally said.  
"Why?" Wallace asked, grabbing her hand as her eyes filled with tears.  
"Because I'm kind of... You know... Playing with you and VJ, you know what I mean?"  
"You're not playing with us!" Wallace said, struggeling to be supportive instead of showing her how much this really hurt him. She didn't need that now.  
"Yes, I am!" Pippa cried, "I should be able to choose one of you!"  
"You don't have to hurry," he replied, "take your time."  
Pippa cried for a long time, before she changed the subject.  
"Have they got any news on the kidnapper yet?" she asked. She knew the answer, it was just a desperate attemt to get the choice between VJ and Wallace out of her head.  
"I'm sorry," Wallace said, "I don't think so..."  
Pippa nodded. Deep inside she couldn't help thinking that both the boys gave her news from outside the hospital, held her when she cried, and told her to relax.  
...But only VJ promised he wouldn't let anything happen to her ever again...

**Chapter 12 - Don't want to be afraid**

"Welcome home!" Wallace, VJ and Sally shouted the moment Pippa and Richard entered the livingroom.  
Pippa smiled, and it was even a real smile.  
"Hi!" She said, and gave her mother a hug. She wanted to hug VJ and Wallace too, but it was a bit awkward when both of them were in the same room, luckily they understood, and VJ only patted her arm.  
Wallace helped her to get into the big chair in front of the TV.  
It was actually nice being home. She had thought it would be worse than the hospital, but it wasn't. Sure, she had been constantly afraid at the hospital, and she still was, but at least she was in her own house now.  
Wallace left for work a few minutes later, and Sally and Richard went down to the beach after checking that it was okay with Pippa a thousand times.  
As soon as the door closed behind them she was alone with VJ again, but this time it was a bit awkward.  
"So..." he said after a moment of awkward silence, "Are you going to the Christmas party?"  
"I don't know," Pippa said, "Are you going?"  
"Yeah, I think so..."  
Awkward again. Pippa wished he would ask her to go with him. VJ didn't dare to ask her, what if she wanted to go with Wallace but didn't want to hurt him?  
Pippa tried to smile at him, it was more like a weird twisting of her face.  
"Do you want anything to drink?" VJ said, he just had to break this awkward silence.  
"Yes! Lemonade!" Pippa said, and VJ left the room.

"I don't know what to do!" Dana said to Sally, "She obviously don't want to live anywhere else!"  
"Why does she love Summer Bay so much?" Sally asked.  
"I don't know, but I guess it's because most of her friends live here," Dana replied.  
"But," Sally said, "You don't want her in your house?"  
"No, no, don't get me wrong!" Dana said, "Johannah is not really a bad kid, it's just that this house isn't big enough, and I can't feed three kids!"  
"I see," Sally said and nodded. She completely understood that Dana and Stephen didn't want another person to feed and clothe, but at the same time she felt sorry for Johannah. She knew a little too well how it was when you felt that you didn't belong anywhere.

VJ was walking home. He didn't know how to feel. Today had been a weird day.  
After spending some awkward minutes with Pippa the silence between them was broken when the phone rang. VJ had picked up, and gotten the unpleasant job to tell Pippa the police had released one of the suspects because he had an alibi.  
He wished he never would be the one to make her face look like that again. Even when he held her afterwards he wished the phone never had rung. She was shaking, and once again he had promised her he'd never let anything happen to her.

"Hi!" Sally said to Johannah as she passed by her. Johannah stopped and turned around, surprised that Sally knew who she was.  
"Hi...?" she replied, a bit suspicious like she thought Sally was up to something.  
"How are you, Johannah?" she asked.  
"I'm fine, Ms. Fletcher, how are you?" Johannah replied, still trying to figure out if there was any connection between them except for the fact that she had been to Summer Bay high once since Sally became principal just to talk to the councelor.  
"I'm fine, thanks," Sally said, "I have to go, but I'll speak to you later!"  
"Okay..." Johannah said. She decided to find out what was going on by following after her. Because something was definitely going on...

Alex was just finishing up her shift in the Diner when Jason arrived.  
"Are you off?" he asked.  
"Yeah, in two minutes," she replied, "wanna go for a walk?"  
"Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you about."  
Alex grabbed her bag and told Stephen she wa sleaving before she joined Jason and left the Diner.  
"Do you know if Wendy is seeing anyone?" he asked. Alex was surprised, normally Jason would never ask a question like that. He was too shy.  
"No... I don't think so, why?" she asked.  
Jason took a deep breath.  
"I wanna ask her to go with me to the barbeque," he said.

She had to be careful so Sally didn't see her...  
Johannah had followed Sally to the Diner, where she obviously was meeting someone. Johannah didn't dare to go any closer now, so she wouldn't be able to hear any of the conversation.

"Hi Sally have you been waiting here for a long time?" Lillian asked.  
"No, don't worry, I just got here," Sally replied, "so are you ready to discuss DeAnna Phillips?"

A cop. Sally was talking to a cop.  
Johannah had a really bad feeling about Sally Fletcher. She knew something she shouldn't know about.

Wallace was exhausted. It had been a long day at work, and he was ready to relax, but first he had to talk to Pippa.  
"Hi," he said when he entered the house, "how do you feel?"  
"I'm fine," Pippa replied.  
Wallace sat down next to her.  
"I don't mean to put any pressure on you or make you choose..." he began. Pippa froze. She couldn't look at him.  
"But I think we need to sort out whether you are staying at or place or VJ's..." he said.  
Pippa bit her lip, and forced herself to look at him.  
"Neither," she said.  
"What?" Wallace asked.  
"I'm staying here with mom and Richard."  
"Oh, okay then. I better get going," Wallace said and got up.  
Pippa watched him leave, and heard the door close behind him. Suddenly she felt lost and scared. She was all alone, and sooner or later she had to make a choice.  
Maybe the hospital had been better after all?  
If only VJ could be there...

**Chapter 13 - Confrontation**

Twelve booklets about studies, five catalogues about further education and one paper about study loan.  
Pippa had been home for three days, and she was sick of always being scared. If she could walk without crutches she would have been outside, wherever her friends were, but as long as she couldn't keep up with them all the time she felt safer in her house. Safe wasn't exactly the right word to use after all; every time she heard a noise she was sure it was the kidnapper or someone who wanted to hurt her.  
She just wanted to put everything that had happened behind her, and starts something new. VJ wasn't coming over very often, and to be honest she was more pleased with Wallace at the moment. She sighed and started reading a booklet.  
It was time for a change.

"Is it just me or are all these brochures for medical schools?" Wallace said, and sat down next to her on the porch. Richard had helped Pippa out so she could read outside instead.  
"Yes, it is" she said.  
"Are you thinking of becoming a doctor?" Wallace asked.  
"Yeah," Pippa said, "I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I applied to some schools. They accepted me, but then I became insecure, so I didn't tell you."  
"Where are you going to school?" Wallace said.  
"I don't know yet," Pippa replied, "I've been accepted to three schools. One in Canberra, one in Perth and the new one they just opened up between Yabbie Creek and the City."  
"Are you serious?" Wallace asked, "Are you becoming a doctor?"  
"Yes, is something wrong about that?" Pippa said and looked at him.  
"No, not at all," he said, "I'm just proud of you." They kissed. The first kiss in a long time.

Thirty feet away VJ froze from the sight of the two of them kissing again. He really thought she was gonna choose him!  
Angry, disappointed, and a bit sad he walked away, not knowing there soon would be more to worry about.

Lillian was in the diner waiting for DeAnna. She knew she shouldn't be as an officer doing her job, but she couldn't help being nervous about this girl's story.  
"Officer Ray, you wanted to see me?"  
Lillian turned around and saw DeAnna Phillips smiling down at her.  
"Yes, please sit down," she said, a bit surprised by her soon arrival.  
"So," DeAnna asked as she sat down, "What have I done?"  
"Nothing, you're not in any trouble," Lillian said, "But I wanted to speak to you about something that concerns me a little. Don't worry, I just really want some answers."  
DeAnna frowned, she hadn't expected this.  
"About what?" She said, trying not to show how suspicious she was about this.  
"About your file from Colombia," Lillian said. DeAnna's expression changed like Lillian had used a remote control.

"Hi, this is VJ Patterson, I'm not here at the moment, so please leave a message, and I will call you back."  
VJ came home just in time to hear his machine pick up a phone call. He didn't want to answer it in case it was the same person who had called him all week.  
"Hi VJ," a male voice said, and VJ's suspections were confirmed, "I know I've kept calling you for a week, and because you don't pick up I assume you either don't get the messages, or you don't want to talk to me. So... Please call me back." The beep at the end told VJ the person had hung up.  
Should he call him back? He didn't really know if he wanted to talk to him. He had only known the truth for less than a year, and it still hurt. He knew who the caller was, but somehow he was angry at him. It wasn't his fault the truth had been kept from VJ, he knew that. But still...  
The truth was painful, and the most natural thing for VJ was to blame the caller. Maybe even of he wasn't the one to blame.

"I couldn't help noticing how you changed when I mentioned your Colombian file," Lillian said, "and I understand if you don't want to talk about it."  
She drank some coffee before she continued.  
"It's just that," she paused, "You live part time in Canberra, part time in Colombia, and then all of a sudden you come here moving to Summer Bay, digging into your parents' past. You do understand that after this... strange behaviour, people start wondering if you're up to something...?"  
DeAnna didn't answer.  
"As I said, I completely understand if you don't want to talk about it," Lillian said, "But refusing to clear your own parents' names, and then go dig after dirty details from their friends... I think at least Sally Fletcher deserves an explanation..."  
"You're right," DeAnna said. Lillian couldn't hide how surprised she was. DeAnna opened her mouth again.  
"I don't want to talk about it," she said.

Pippa was still on the porch, when VJ passed by. He was hoping she would be inside, but she wasn't. He tried to hurry before she saw him...  
"VJ!" ...too late...  
"Hi..." he said, trying to sound happy.  
"Come on over here!" she said, and VJ walked up to the porch.  
"I don't have that much time..." he began.  
"Nice to see you too," Pippa said, "I'm fine, thanks for asking."  
VJ just stared at the ground.  
"Are you okay?" Pippa asked. She didn't sound sarcastic anymore, just worried.  
"I'm sick of being your toy," VJ blurted out. He hadn't plan to say it, it just happened.  
"What?" Pippa said, looking very shocked, "Excuse me?!"  
VJ looked her in the eyes now. Weeks of worrying, giving in and being nice was over. He was tired.  
"I don't want you to play with me," he said, "I saw you kiss Wallace today, you really had me thinking we had something going on..."  
"We have!" Pippa said.  
"Then tell Wallace it's over, and stop taking me for granted!" he said, and left without giving her the chance to reply.

Back home the machine was picking up a message again.  
"VJ, it's me again. I just need to know if you're there, so if you are... please just pick up, or hang up so I know whether you're there or not..."  
VJ walked over to the phone. He was tired of trouble, and sad because everything seemed so hard at the moment.  
"So..." the caller said, and VJ sighed. Then he pushed the button finishing the call.

**Chapter 14 - Right and wrong  
**  
Is it possible to do the right thing and then discover it is the wrong thing? Is the right thing _always_ the right thing, or can it sometimes also be the wrong thing?  
VJ didn't know what to think anymore.  
On one hand he didn't want to give up Pippa, after all she had been through a lot, but on the other hand he was sick of just being one of her boyfriends.  
And then there was the calls. He still wasn't sure he had did the right thing hanging up. The caller hadn't called again, and he probably never wouldn't. But if he really cared as much as he pretended when he called he would call again, right? VJ wanted him to stop calling, but at the same time...  
He gave up, no more thoughts! It had been two days since he dumped Pippa, and two days since he hung up. It was time to move on!  
It was only seven o'clock. VJ grabbed his keys, locked the door behind him and headed for Noah's bar.

DeAnna payed the bartender. She just wanted to get really drunk and drown all her feelings.  
Why couldn't anyone understand?  
She came to find out more about her parents, and automatically people thought she was up to something, and started digging in her past. That only gave her more reason to believe her parents hadn't been the nice sweet people she used to think they were when she was a kid.  
Why did people always have to interfere and try to make her talk?  
The door to the bar was opened, and DeAnna turned around. It was VJ Patterson, and he didn't look too great.  
"Good," DeAnna thought, as VJ sat down, "A drinking mate, finally!"

Sally had been thinking a lot lately, and it was time to talk to Richard.  
Ever since Dana had told her about Johannah she had been trying to figure out a solution to make this girl's life a bit easier.  
She finally thought she had found one, but before she could know that for sure she had to talk to Richard.

Once again she failed to dial his number. Wallace was working, she knew that, but if she could just leave him a message and tell him they needed to talk...  
She just couldn't seem to be able to dial his number, Maybe it was destiny's way to tell her she shouldn't talk to him? Maybe her decision was wrong? No, she wanted to be with VJ!  
No matter how much fun she had had dating Wallace she somehow knew VJ was ment to be, and the one she wanted to be with. Maybe even for the rest of her life.  
With these thoughts on her mind, she dialled the number again and reached Wallace's machine.  
She took a deep breath, it was now or never, and she just had to trust she was doing the right thing.  
"Hey Wallace, it's me," she said, trying to sound normal, "we need to talk..."

"One more drink for the lady," VJ said, he was starting to get really drunk, much more than DeAnna. She found herself so amused by VJ there was no need to get totally wasted on alcohol to have a good time.  
"So why are you here, VJ?" she asked, and took the drink the bartender placed in front of her and started drinking.  
"I'm here because you're so pretty," VJ said, obvioulsy very drunk.  
"I thought you were with Pippa Saunders?" DeAnna said.  
"No I'm not!" VJ protested, but DeAnna could see from the change of the expression that Pippa had something to do with him being here, drunk as an old sailorman.  
"Did she break up with you?" she asked.  
"No, I broke up with her," VJ replied, drinking half a drink at once.  
"Why?" DeAnna asked.  
"Because she's playing me!" VJ said, and he sounded angry.  
"Aww, poor thing," DeAnna said, moving closer to him and then putting her arn around his shoulders, "you don't deserve that!"  
"I know, but she keeps seeing that guy... Walter... No, Winston..."  
"Wallace?"  
"YES! WALLACE!" VJ almost yelled. "So why are you here?" he the asked.  
"I'm just sick of people minding a business that's not theirs," she said.  
"What business?" VJ said, trying to drink, but discovering the glass was empty.  
"My life," DeAnna said, and ordered a new drink for VJ, "I just want to know about my parents!"  
"People suck," VJ said, and DeAnna couldn't help smiling. He sounded like a spoiled fourteen year old girl.  
"I know," she said, "I wish there was something we could do about it!"  
VJ just stared at the hot female bartender for a moment, before DeAnna got his attention again.  
"I have an idea..." he said, and smiled.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Richard said. He knew his wife had a big heart, and wanted to help others, but he wondered if she was going a bit far this time.  
"Yes, of course I am," Sally said, "and I know it will work out! I love Cassie, Ric and Lauren like they were my own children!"  
"But it's almost 15 years since Lauren moved out," Richard replied, "And we are much older than we were!"  
"I'm not too old!" Sally protested, "I'm never gonna get too old to help people in the same situation I was fourty years ago!"  
"The world has changed a lot in fourty years, Sal!"  
"Yes, I'm aware of that," Sally said, "but it's not better than it was fourty years ago! Are you with me on this or not?"  
Richard sighed.  
"You know I want to help as much as you do," he said, "I just want you to be sure you want to do this."  
"I am." Sally said.  
"Well," Richard said, and put his arm around his wife, "then I guess we are contacting the foster care services tomorrow to see if we can be parents again..."

**Chapter 15 – Parties in Summer Bay…**

Breaking up with Wallace hadn't been the funniest thing in the world. He had been calm and understanding, and for a moment Pippa had regret her decision. But she knew it would be wrong to stay with Wallace. She was in love with VJ, and nothing could change that.

Wallace had decided, after discussing with Sally, Richard and Pippa to stay in the apartment, while Pippa decided to move back in with her parents.

She hadn't seen VJ for over a week and because of her knee she hadn't been anywhere near the Baker house where VJ lived since he had dumped her. She wanted to make up with him so they could get together, but she was also scared and insecure. What if he wouldn't take her back? What if the break up had been the final, and he wasn't interested.

She didn't dare to call him. He dumped her, it was he who should be calling.

But one thing was for sure: she was going to the party no matter if she talked to him or not.

Johannah was ripped back to reality from the book she was reading, when her foster mother opened the door to her room. Johannah hated the way she just opened the door without knocking.

"There's a woman here who wants to talk to you," she said.

"Who is it?" Johannah asked.

"It's a woman from the foster care services," she replied.

Johannah closed her book and got up. Madeline Jared from the foster care services was waiting in the kitchen.

She looked up when Johannah entered, and told her to sit down, After the normal procedures of asking if Johannah was okay, and if she was having a good time Mrs. Jared finally came to the real reason why she was there.

"Did I understand you right when you said you wanted to be moved to Summer Bay?" she said.

"Yes," Johannah replied, "The sooner the better."

"Well I have a late Christmas present for you," Mrs Jared said, "we have a foster family in Summer Bay willing to take you and another girl in the end of January…"

As so many times before VJ was leaning towards the fence at the beach, staring out to the ocean. He noticed someone walking up towards him, and standing right behind him. He didn't turn around. He didn't need to, the wind blew from west and he could smell her sweet perfume. It was DeAnna.

Still he wondered if he had donet he right thing. He kept telling himself he had been drunk, and not able to judge the situation properly, but the day after, when he woke up next to her and was sober… He didn't regret.

"Hi," she said, and immidiately he knew there was something important she had to say.

"Hey," he replied, and turned around, "how are you?"

"I'm fine," she said, "I just thought I'd let you know…" she paused, and VJ got a bit nervous. At the moment she was the only thing he had to hold on to.

"I'm going back to Canberra for a few weeks," she said.

"Why?" VJ said, and then it struck him; maybe she was going back to uni in Canberra?

"I'm starting uni here," DeAnna said, "and I have to pack all my stuff before I come back."

"Oh, okay…" VJ said, because he didn't know what else to say to her right now.

DeAnna left the same day, and couldn't come to the party at the beach on New Years Eve. It would be one great party, no one doubted that, because as Jana Hattiesburg, the number one gossip lady of the town said, "That DeAnna Phillips was finally out of town, and no longer sneaking around trying to find out about secrets that were better off hidden."

Johannah was coming, and everyone seemed happy for a change. Even Pippa wasn't in a bad mood. How could she, when it was New Years Eve and a part going on? The last party had been a disaster, but what could og wrong this time?

"Everything," a nasty little voice in her head kept telling her, but full of Christmas spirit and hopes for the new year she chose to ignore it.

Six o'clock everyone was gathered down at the beach, and ready to celebrate the new year.

Pippa could see VJ far over on the other side of the beach, but chose not to draw his attention. He would talk to her when he was ready. And Wallace was with his parents in Brisbane, so she didn't have to worry about him. Tonight it was only her, her drink, the beach, the people and the new year.

The music was loud and good, and it was a shame she couldn't be up dancing with the others. If she had someone to dance with she might be able to dance, but alone… Her knee wasn't strong enough yet.

"Hey," someone said, and Pippa turned her head. It was Noah. She barely knew him, but she couldn't help thinking how handsome he was, and how nice he seemed.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"How are you?" Noah asked.

"I'm fine thanks, how are you?" Pippa replied, turning her head slightly to check if VJ was watching them.

"I'm good," Noah said, "You should just talk to him, you know that?"

"What?" Pippa said, a bit too quickly as she turned her head back and blushed.

"VJ, you two should talk…" Noah said.

Pippa blushed again, "I'm sorry," she said, "It's just…"

"Oh, looks like he's coming this way," Noah cut her off, "I'd better go and let you two talk." And then he left.

Pippa was thankful, but soon she wished he had stayed, because VJ was only passing by to go talk to Jason.

"Hi, how are you?" Sally asked.

Johanna looked up.

"Hi, I'm good, thanks, how are you?" she said, being as polite as she could without showing how weird she found it that Sally kept talking to her even though they had barely met.

"I'm fine, and excited about becoming a foster mom again," Sally said, smiling.

Johannah swallowed, "You? Are you...?" she said, her mouth felt dry all of a sudden.

"Yes, we are," Sally said, obviously very happy, "in four weeks we are welcoming you to our family!"

"Yeah, that's... Great..." Johannah said, again hiding her real feelings, but only this time the feeling was plain fear. Living in the same house with the family she was desperately trying to hide a secret from just couldn't be good.

**Capter 16 – ...Always go wrong**


End file.
